ORGANIZATIONS

CHRIST CHURCH SCHOOL

It was in Gloucestershire, England in 1781-2, that the first Sunday School was started by Robert Raikes, a printer. He met with great opposition at first.
Here in Springfield, when in 1819, the members of the Old First Church proposed to start a Sunday School, there was much dissension. Our Sunday, or Church School, as it is now called, in Christ Church, has had a long history. In the early days of the parish many mission schools were held in various parts of the city. There was one, held in the Central Street School, which became the nucleus of St. Peter's Mission, afterwards St. Peter's Church. The first superintendent was Mr. J. Streets, held in a drug store, was called St. James and had Mr. John Thonger as head. Mr. John E. Shipman had charge of the Sunday School on Auburn Street, while Mr. Horatio W. Southworth was superintendent of the School in West Springfield. Much later the Rev. Alfred DeF. Snively started a mission and Sunday School at the North end, in the basement of what was the Universalist Church on Waverly Street. For a time later, the work here was carried on by the Rev. Hugh Wallace Smith, a curate of the parish.
During the early years of Christ Church parish school, the rectors had charge and were superintendents. Among the laymen who, during the early years of the school, did much to build it up, were Mr. Edmund P. Kendrick, and Mr. H. W. Southworth. Mr. Stedman Craig became superintendent during the rectorship of the Rev. John Cotton Brooks, a position which he faithfully filled for many years. During Mr. Craig's